by LUKE ZUNGA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – IT is the low ebb in diplomacy, that an ambassador is expelled.
Ibrahim Rasool, the South African Ambassador to the United States of America (USA) has been expelled. There are allegations on what he should not have said. But Rasool is a victim of a perilous administration in South Africa, beset with depreciating currency, low growth, high unemployment, and low morale.
The administration in South Africa lost its footing, with citizens revolting to decisions made by technocratic politicians.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy was at odds with Donald Trump but he was bolstered by Europe which rallied behind him in London.
South Africa faces a divisive environment with both black and white citizens, and is teetering on a breakdown of trust. Rasool faced a penalty kick.
The South African president Cyril Ramaphosa is not listening to citizens, but to technocrats. His technocrats, the director generals (DG’s) and the likes, tell him not to fund citizens to start.
That is where the black people are. They fought for freedom and are at the doorstep requesting financial capital and a method to enter formal business in larger numbers.
They want to start. But the Presidency, despite start-ups challenging him in the High Court in Pretoria, stays put with technocrats, whose advice is to hunt for foreign investors.
Thirty years have gone by in this freedom, and he is still waiting for foreign investors. The USA is telling the South African administration that there are no foreign investors.
What should South Africa do? The starting point is the economy. South Africa should turn to its citizens, to address the many issues tearing this democracy.
The first is to put black people into industry. The presentations of the methodologies to industrialize started before 2010, and intensified from 2012, but the President waits for a recommendation from technocrats.
The President knows nothing about it right now, because the technocrats did not recommend it to him. He doesn’t ask himself, why is it that all financial institutions and government funding agencies do not finance to start factories or any other formal business.
He wants black people to come up with capital from their salaries, to build factories, which is impossible. Himself, did he start from his own capital?
Then the President must address white citizens’ complaints. They are genuine in many respects, although AfriForum are high-jacking the stage.
How is it that a country which opposed discrimination is engaging the same tactics in perpetuity? Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) should have had a time frame, not forever.
B-BBEE is not an economic growth policy. It is a sharing policy. If you share a penny it remains a penny. Sections 11, 1 and 2 in the B-BBEE Act 53 (2003) have the instructions to industrialize but nothing has been done in respect of these sections since 2004.
The technocrats do not want these sections and the Presidents are mum. The answers are not in the DGs’ offices. Check what citizens are bringing to the courts.
Ask the State Attorney, what court actions are brought against the President, Ministers and the state. Read them. Those are the issues…..and engage the people concerned.
Right now, the state attorney is defending the state from the functions the state must do without discrimination.
The actions of the US Secretary of State, Mark Rubio was to push the idle iceberg.
South Africa is weak – no economy, no cohesion, a faltering defence capability. South Africa is intimidated by Rwanda.
The USA respects countries which are economically and morally competitive, assertive with seasoned diplomats.
South Africa should ignore the USA for now but attend to citizens’ issues first. The State attorney is insulating the President and the ministers, but that is divisive.
Further, do not wait for foreign investors because you do not know where they come from, when and how many?
– CAJ News